Visiting Seattle (Winter 2015 Update)

Two Beers is fine, but they're not a place I'm going to recommend to someone who is from out of town and has limited time.

 

Personally, I like Two Beers well enough. But yeah, I wouldn't put them on a must hit list, for people with a short visit. For that dude who's going to be here 3 months, he should definitely hit that pod: Machine House, Two Beers, Schooner Exact, Big Al, etc.

I'd put Two Beers in our mid-tier breweries, alongside the likes of Scuttlebutt, Lazy Boy, Big Al, Dicks (although Dicks is a personal favorite. I've got a cool story about Dick that colors my opinion.), Iron Horse, No-Li, etc.

 

Speaking of NoLi (and thread jacking), Can someone give me the general Washington feel about it?

I'm really drawn to their branding, and I just had Rise and Grind and thought it was crazy delicious.

 

Well, I liked the branding better when they were Northern Lights. I've never been overly impressed with the beers. They're not terrible, but, unless it's a new beer that I'm ticking, I never order a glass or buy a bottle. Like I said above, I think they're in our second tier, but way ahead of places like Wingman or Elk Head.

 

I'm no longer in WA, but I won't let that stop me. All their beers I've tried have been solid, clean examples of the style, but not quite in the "this beer's so awesome I have to shout it from the rooftops" category. I wouldn't hesitate to vouch for their stuff, but just not who I'd mention first as a recommendation. Being in Eastern WA without the benefit of a marketing hook probably doesn't help ("Spokane Style" just isn't as compelling as being located on a hop farm, for example).

Yet another brewery that would be some city's/state's pride and joy, if they were located in almost any other part of the country.

 

No Li's distribution over here in Washington is pretty impressive. Part of why I could see them getting snapped up by a big BMC guy.

 

I haven't had a lot from them, but what I've had I thought were pretty good. Their whiskey barrel aged Stout was real good.

 

You can find their beer all over Portland also.

 

I've always thought that their "basic" beers are just ok, but their jet star imperial ipa and wrecking ball imperial stout are both very good, and something decent to buy when you want to get a 4 pack of something good.

 

I tend to pick up Fremont or Bale Breaker when I'm feeling that way.

 

Hey! I'm currently over on the Silverdale/Bainbridge island side over the water. Any good bottle shops over here? I think I heard the one in Poulsbo closed down. Help quick!!

 

I checked on Facebook, and the Marina Market posted stuff on Sunday, so I'm pretty sure it's still open. That would be the place to go

 

There is also a BevMo in Silverdale.

 

Thank you sooo much! You are lifesavers!!

Any recommendations for "THE northwest beer" to bring back to Michigan??

 

That would be Fremont B-BOMB.

 

B-Bomb and Topcutter. I brought back both and was glad I did.

 

Is that Bourbon Abominable?

 

Yes.

 

Kicking myself for not trying Field 41 when I was out there. Saw it plenty of times, and always went for a Topcutter instead, since it's so damn good! Ah well, next time I'll try it!

 

Top Cutter is good, but Field 41 is amazing.

 

While I can't truly disagree with Topcutter, my vote goes to Field 41. IMHO, F41 is the best IPA made in this state.

 

SOLID recommendation on the market. I couldn't find field 41, but they had a ton of stuff that just doesn't get distro to MI. Thanks guys!

 

Got to this late but that is the spot. They had Fremont Dark Star as of this weekend. Jonathan will hook you up.......

 

I'll be up around UW. I think we are staying near a Trader Joe's. Anything close by I could hit up? Looking for anything local worth taking back to Hawai'i, to share with my friends.

 

Sounds like you're close to Big Time Brewery and Bottleworks. Not too terribly far from Fremont Brewing either.

 

I used to feel that way but when I visited Bale Breaker back in September I got to buy Top Cutter that had been canned like three or four days earlier. It was divine. I haven't bought Top Cutter that good since then though, so IMHO it's a different beast depending on freshness.

 

Welcome to the NW! We gots lots o stuff that doesn't leave the region. I've lived here over 14 years now, and I still haven't tried all, and not from a lack of effort.

 

Toronado, Latona Pub, Elysian Tangletown and Burgundian are nearby, too.

 

We were actually up at the Nexus Hotel, near some mall and Family Donuts (which were awesome). Did get to swing by Chuck's and pick up a few things. Really cool place.

 

Heard some interesting news this morning - a single-origin espresso joint will be opening inside of Hilliard's in March. They roll with Counter Culture beans, which (outside of the Anchored Ship - a related entity) isn't too common on this coast.

http://www.mmmhmmcoffee.com/

Hilliards will be open for business quite a bit earlier once they're set-up. Love the idea, personally.

 

I want to thank all the WA posters for the great info in this thread. I just came back from a weekend trip to Seattle (from Portland) with 12 new additions to my stash, including Pale 41 and Coffee Cinnamon Bomb (found at Full Throttle). Even with the options we have in Portland shopping in Seattle has a ton of variety we don't get between Washington breweries who don't make it south (Bale Breaker, Fremont, Reuben's, etc) and non-Washington breweries I love that apparently skip over Oregon from Cali (Lost Abbey/Port and Almanac, to name a couple). My wallet is lighter but I'm okay with that.

Side note, I picked up the Wingman Queen's Peach at Metropolitan Market on a whim. It seems like it had a very, very small distribution since, if I read right, it is only sold through that market?

 

That coffee place has been in Hilliards for months now (at least since July). My friend got one and they wouldn't provide her with cream or sugar. I know coffee purists would balk at the idea of adding things to coffee, but not everyone is in the drink it black crowd.

 

Not exactly - started as a pop-up, now has limited weekend hours (I think) but will ultimately be a full-on partner with 7-day hours starting well before the brewery currently opens, so it's a bit of a major shift from what it currently is.

As for ordering cream/sugar, no different than ordering a bud light at a brewery - can't really have a reasonable expectation of that request being accommodated.

 

I think in the end, the majority of folks that buy at that stand are either the connoisseur that prefer it as nature intended or the disgruntled girlfriend that got dragged along to a brewery and doesn't like beer and wants it with cream. This request would be closer in nature to asking for an orange wedge with a hefe rather than a bud light anyways.

 

But the brewery would likely have their own Lager/Blonde/light whatever on tap that would be close enough that the BL drinker could still have a beverage. Coffee snobs are assholes. And, they're too wound up.

 

It's really no different than anything else. My passions include, but extend well beyond beer. I feel as strongly about coffee and food as I do beer. There's a lot of art and skill in sourcing, roasting, brewing (coffee) etc just as there is in brewing (beer). You'll find dozens of threads about orange wedges, frosted mugs, dirty lines and all sorts of crazy things on here so to think it's different for someone who appreciates coffee to not really be supportive of dumping a bunch of adjuncts in a hand-brewed cup of coffee seems odd to me.